Chapter 8
In this chapter Jack attempts to seize control of the group and fails, causing him to leave, however the other boys slowly join him. Summary At the start of this chapter Ralph, still reeling after the discovery that there really was a beast, calls a meeting. During this meeting, Jack asks the boys whether they would prefer him as leader but none of them say they would; he then decides to leave. However, a few hours later many of the students have left Ralph to find him. Meanwhile, Simon goes to his secret place in the jungle but he is dangerously dehydrated causing him to halucinate and begin to go mad. Jack's tribal boys kill a boar at this spot and stick it's head there. Simon names it the 'Lord of the Flies'. Jack then invites all of the boys to a feast to try and get the remaining children to join his tribe. Characters Ralph finally gives up now, the stress of being chief was bad enough but now Jack, his once close friend, has decided to leave. With Jack go the ever-important hunters and also the last remaining hope of the tribe succeeding, Ralph sinks into a hopeless inner turmoil which nobody can quell. When the camp is raided by Jack's new tribe and they are invited to dine on meat, Ralph realises how savage they have become and his innocence is lost as is order from his tribe. The motives behind Jack's separation from the tribe was simply that being as egoistic as he is, he decided that he would make a better chief than Ralph. Calling Ralph a 'coward' before his own tribe was a brave move and Jack seems to have lost all respect for his former chief, favouring himself and his huntsmen. Angry as he is, Jack did try to democratically have himself voted for and only when this was unsuccessful did he storm off. His anger and savagry shows when he finds and destroys a sow with his hunters and impales its head upon a spike as an 'offering to the beastie' before raiding Ralph's tribe and then, smartly, offering entry to anyone wishing to join him. Besides Simon, the hunters had already joined him though and they were keen to follow in his savage ways. Roger in particular is fearsomely savage and seems to gain enjoyment through inflicting as much pain as possible in killing the sow. Even more worryingly, the hunters follow every word Jack says, even though they were all once civilised choirboys. Piggy, Simon and Samneric all remain loyal to Ralph however and none of them seemed too sorry to see Jack gone, though they too felt the shockwave of anarchy felt by Ralph when Jack split off from the tribe. Simon seemed to want to escape this and decided to wander off alone after the raid, while adventuring he found the skewered pigs head and it becomes clear that Simon is mentally insecure as he hallucinates and talks to himself before fainting. Setting On the beach in the daylight, gathered together as they are, the boys still don't feel secure enough to persue the beast because of how much it terrified them the night before. During the day it is generally pleasant on the beach so the wave of distress caused by the choir's leave was probably quite a stark contast which must have come as a shock to the group. When Jack raids the group, it probably feels less safe and suddenly they will seem exposed compared to what they were like previously. With the tranquility fully broken, the tribe surely feels less fun for even the most innocent of littluns and the island probably now seems dangerous and lonely. A far less safe area of the island, at least for Simon is the field surrounding the sow's head that the other tribe placed there. Originally he feels free but the area probably feels a lot more exposed when the apparition appears to him and he hallucinates it becomes terrifying for him and as such, Simon's island adventure is not so fun and the island cannot be a nice place for him. Themes and Writing Style Leadership, a reaccurring theme is concluded in this chapter as the balance is tipped. When Jack confronts Ralph the other boys are forced to make a decision between the leader they selected and a hunting leader who demands power. Because Jack is the stronger, more demanding leader they go to him, even though Ralph employs much less radical and useful ideas and techniques. As Simon becomes mad, the theme of death resurfaces. The 'lord of the flies' is a symbol of death as it is a dead pig's head, which seemingly taunts Simon. This could be representative of the Devil suggesting that not even God can save them. Alternatively, another way in which this could suggest death is through the way that Golding describes the flies swarming around it. Flies are decrepid creatures which are often found around dead carcasses and the use of these animals could suggest that death is imminent and something bad is about to happen. Writing Style: This chapter gives a brilliant example of William Golding's style of writing. He uses speech and the characters' actions to cause the reader to experience certain emotions similar to what the character is feeling. This can be seen in this chapter in two different situations; when the tribe is split by Jack leaving and when Simon goes mad. Both of these situations cause us to feel pity for the characters as the struggle against life on the island. 'The two boys glared at each other through screens of hair' shows the characters' anger and makes us feel pity for Ralph as Jack challenges him as leader. Ralph has not necessarily done anything wrong which makes us empathise more with him. The word 'glared' shows just how furious both boys are and shows how powerful the hatred is. In addition to this, speech is used, more specifically the use of the phrase "He's a coward himself." This is a direct insult to Ralph causing us to feel sorry and empathise with him. The use of this language and character action allows us to become more immersed in the story and empathise with the characters. Conclusion and Final Comment This chapter could be considered to be one of the most important points in the story, when the balance of the tribe changes under the pressure of fear and tension. Themes of menace and savagery begin to resurface as the dispute over leadership becomes more personal to both Jack and Ralph. The book also takes a dark turn as the boys investigate the dead body of the pilot, showing both leading characters just as the children they are.